The gap between the least and most peaceful countries continues to grow.The average level of global peacefulness has deteriorated for nine of the past 13 years.Since 2008, the level of global peacefulness has deteriorated by 2%, with 75 countries recording a deterioration, while 86 improved.Read more: Peacefulness declines to lowest level in 15 years Support for the West was strong, with 58% wanting to join a Western economic union, and 54% supporting joining NATO. In contrast to the global trend, positive sentiment in the Ukraine was rising in 2021.Social media is changing the way intelligence is gathered – it is now shared instantaneously, raw and with little analysis.Two of the five countries with the largest deteriorations in peacefulness were Russia and the Ukraine.Impact of the War in Ukraine on Peacefulness Seven of the ten countries at the top of the GPI are in Europe, and Turkey is the only country in this region to be ranked outside the top half of the index.For the fifth consecutive year, Afghanistan is the least peaceful country, followed by Yemen, Syria, Russia and South Sudan.
It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark and Austria. Iceland remains the most peaceful country, a position it has held since 2008.The global economic impact of violence was $16.5 trillion in 2021, equivalent to 10.9% of global GDP, or $2,117 per person.The political terror scale, political insecurity, neighbouring country relations, refugees and IDPs reached their worst score since the inception of the GPI.The rise in costs has increased food insecurity and political instability globally, with Africa, South Asia and the Middle East under greatest threat.Terrorism continued to improve, with 70 countries recording no attacks in 2021.Despite recent commitments, militarisation has improved in 113 countries since 2008.Deaths from external conflict recorded a sharp deterioration driven by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Although slight, this is the eleventh deterioration in peacefulness in the last fourteen years, with 90 countries improving, 71 deteriorating and two remaining stable in peacefulness, highlighting that countries tend to deteriorate much faster than they improve. Global Peace Index 2022 results show that the average level of global peacefulness deteriorated by 0.03%.